


a most precious gift (season 6 ficlet)

by thecomebackkids99



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: 6x03, 6x04, 6x08, 6x09, 6x11, Daddy!Oliver, F/M, Fluff, Marriage, Pre-Season 6 fic, The Flash Backpack, Weddings, digging deeper, episode fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-01-20 11:20:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12431724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecomebackkids99/pseuds/thecomebackkids99
Summary: [Chapter 5] The beginning of the archery battle between the two Queen men. Oliver decides he's done losing to his son.





	1. A Gift for William

**Author's Note:**

> There's been a theory floating around on Tumblr that Felicity bought William the Flash backpack, so I decided to write it. I'm going to make this a multi-chapter fic, with the intention of adding other Arrow season 6 stories as we go. Hope you enjoy!

The love of her life was about to experience something crazy.

His son was starting school in Star City.

And though she hadn’t met William yet, she needed to get him _something_. A first-day-of-school-at-a-new-and-scary-place kind of present. Which meant that she was here, at Walmart, searching for something that a twelve-year-old kid would like. So far, nothing was popping out. Or catching her eye, and she’d gone through the store twice.

Felicity sighed and dropped her chin to her chest. “C’mon. You’re Felicity Smoak. You’re smart, sexy, and though you haven’t met this kid, he’s your not-actual-boyfriend’s son and you need to get off on the right foot.” Even if she had failed to get him a present when Oliver first brought him home. Mostly because she was scared frozen of what was to come.

She glanced at her phone. Three in the morning. She’d been here since two, and if she wanted to get this to Oliver before William left for school at seven-thirty, that left her not enough time to order fancy chocolate from Italy and get them here in time.

It was time to bring in the big guns. Enough trying to shop on her own. Before she thought twice, she dialed Oliver’s number. As it rang, her decision ran through her head. He would have the volume on, which would wake him up. She last saw him at midnight when she sent him home because he looked so tired. _Frack_.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why do you always assume that something’s wrong?”

“Because…” Oliver huffed. “Usually three AM calls are bad, Felicity.”

“Yeah. Right. Well, this is different. I need your help.”

At the mention of help, he seemed to perk up. And relax. “What’s up?”

“I’m at Walmart right now. Shopping. Of course I’m shopping. But not for me. I’m actually—”

“Fel-ic-ity.” Oliver sighed. “Honey, it’s three in the morning. _I’m_ not even up right now. Can’t you save this for later?”

“No, I can’t. This is something that needs to be done _now_. It’s for William.” Her heartrate picked up when Oliver didn’t respond. She could just hear his breathing. Him reacting was never a good sign. Was it wrong to buy him a gift? “I guess may it was a stupid idea. I thought…like, obviously, he doesn’t know me. And he wouldn’t have to know it’s from me. I’d actually prefer if he didn’t.” She was babbling and nothing could stop her. “But maybe—”

“Felicity.” He spoke her name quietly. Gently. In a way that only he could say it. Her rambling stopped. He was the only one who could do that. She took a deep breath and whispered, “Yes?”

“You’re trying to find him a gift?” It was almost like he didn’t believe it. They talked about William. A lot. How they would put their relationship aside for the time being until the boy settled in with Oliver. Losing his mom and then having a strange, babbling woman in the house wouldn’t help with anything. But maybe Oliver had forgotten how much she cared about his son. Even if she hadn’t met him.

“Yeah, I am. That’s okay, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah. That’s okay.” He must’ve smiled. She could hear it in his voice. “I just…you didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I do. Because at some point, I’m going to be a part of his life and though I can’t right now, I can at least give him a gift. That he doesn’t need to know about. But I want to do this.”

“So you’re at Walmart at three in the morning.”

“Don’t mock my pain.”

“I’m not.” But he laughed anyways. “And we’re back to why you need my help.”

“I can’t find anything. Do you have any ideas?” She shouldn’t have asked that. What if he didn’t have any ideas? He’d only known him for a couple months and William wasn’t forthcoming in what he enjoyed. “And if you don’t—”

“He loves the Flash.”

“I thought he liked the Green Arrow.”

Oliver released a long sigh. “Not since Chase. He likes Barry. Not me.”

“You hadn’t told me that.” Typical of them. Having intimate conversations at this time in the morning. “I’m sorry, Oliver.”

“It’s okay. I get it. I’m the reason his mom’s dead. The Flash is not. He’s cool.”

“So am I supposed to schedule a meeting with him? Because, uh, he’s kind of gone.” Thinking about him—and Iris sleeping alone—broke her heart. She’d done a lot of that in her time of loving Oliver but being unable to be with him.

“Is there any cool Flash stuff there?”

“I can look. But where would they put that kind of stuff? Where’s the Batman stuff here?”

“I don’t know. I don’t normally look for that kind of clothing.”

She started walking towards the boys’ section in search of the Flash. Not the Flash but the fan base. “Can you stay on the phone until I’m done shopping? Unless you’re really tired. Then go back to sleep.”

“I’m wide awake now and in the kitchen, so yes. Have you slept at all since I saw you?”

“Nope. I’ve been either sitting in the lair or shopping. How has your sleep been?”

“It would be better if you were here.”

His soft, sleepy voice made her smile. “Soon, Oliver. Soon. I miss you too. And now I’m here and I’m seeing nothing. Why can’t life be easy?”

“You don’t really need to buy the gift, y’know. Just go home and sleep.”

“No!” _Too sharp, Felicity_. “No, I want to get him something.” She was going to cry soon. Tears filled her eyes. Tears of frustration, exhausted, and panic. William would never know if she didn’t get him something for his first day of school. But what if—“I need to get him something.”

“So get him candy.”

“That’ll rot his teeth, and he’ll forget about it as soon as he eats it.” She slowed down as she walked down the aisles of school stuff. Pencils, notebooks, and backpacks. “Backpack!” She pumped her fist in the air and squealed. Loudly. The few people in the store looked at her with strange expressions, and Oliver cleared his throat.

“What?”

She was too excited for this time of night. “Does William have a backpack?”

“Yeah. He packed it a couple days ago.”

“But would he want a better one?”

“It’s just a backpack. How cool can it be?”

Felicity lifted the bag with Flash symbols all over it. What a gift this would be. She was going to ignore the nagging voice in her head that said he might not like it. _He’ll love it_. “I’ve got the perfect gift, which is really saying something. Can I stop by your place in ten minutes?”

“I’ll have the door unlocked. Just come in quietly. William wakes up easy.”

She smiled. As if Oliver could get any sexier. Twelve minutes later, she opened the front door, wincing when it creaked. She whispered, “Hey, I’m here.” Oliver sat on the couch, but he stood up and bounded to her before she could come any further into the apartment. “Hi.”

He slid his arms around her waist and grinned. “Hi. Do you have it?”

Felicity held up the backpack and watched his grin get wider with a certain amount of glee. “Do you think he’ll like it?”

“He’ll love it. Thank you, Felicity.” He took the backpack from her and tossed it onto the couch before turning back to her. “I know this hasn’t been easy. We decided to take it slow and we’ve been moving at turtle pace.” His face flashed the frustration he felt. “We haven’t even been on a date.”

What a man. Somehow he managed to be the Mayor, the Green Arrow, her boyfriend, and a dad. Without dying of exhaustion. “Oliver. I don’t care how slow we move. We are moving, and we’re going in the right direction this time. I get it. William is top priority right now, and he always will be. At some point, we’ll go out on a date. For now,” she got up on her tip-toes and kissed him. Quickly, but long enough to ignite their passion for each other. She pulled away, touching her nose to his in goodbye. “That’ll have to do.”

 

At eight-thirty that morning, her phone lit up with a text from Oliver as she washed her breakfast dishes. **_He loved it. I told him it was from a good friend. Thank you, Felicity._ ** Only he would use her name in a text message. She dried her hands and picked up her phone. Smiled at the last messages they exchanged when she got back to the Loft last night. They discovered that goodnight kisses could be exchanged over text messages a couple months ago. **_You don’t ever have to thank me, Oliver. He’s your son, and I love you. Which means that I love him too. But the record, the Green Arrow is cooler._**


	2. How it Came to Pass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What went through Oliver's head as he watched Felicity help William with math homework.

She texted at seven, saying that she’ll be there in fifteen minutes. It’s a long fifteen minutes for both of them. William tapped his pencil on the table every three seconds, which drove him nuts but the last thing he wanted to do was to yell at him. He spent the fifteen minutes staring at his phone, almost hoping that she would text and say that she couldn’t make it. This was a bad idea. Bringing in the woman he’d fallen head over heels with to his house to tutor his son. Who had no idea she existed. He’d mentioned her in the ‘good friend of mine’ way but never as ‘Felicity…the woman I’m going to marry one of these days’. What if William hated her? That would put a damper on any plans that he had for the future.

“I’m here!” She announced herself instead of ringing the doorbell. Oliver shot up from his seat, but stopped himself from running to the door. William was watching. He opened the door and smiled at her. She bounced on her toes, fingers twitching almost as much as his heart was beating. “Hi!”

“Hey, Felicity.” He opened the door wide to let her in and gestured to the open door to William’s room. “He’s in there.”

“Okay.” She didn't look any calmer after taking a few deep breaths. Her voice was a whisper when she asked, “Uh…how much have you told him about me? Like…lots of stuff? Or just…stuff. Which sounded different in my head.”

“I told him that we work together sometimes, and that you might have to run out of here if you get a call.” He flashed her a look that probably looked like begging. “Please help him. I don’t even know what quadratic equations are.”

“Maybe you should join in on this tutoring session.”

If he did, William would figure it out and there would be trouble. “I’ll watch from the kitchen.” He introduced Felicity to his son, referring to her as ‘his good friend’. William gave her a little smile but then dropped his gaze to the piles of math homework that had to get done. Oliver slipped out and dropped down onto the couch. Without Thea available, he had to do more stuff. None of it fun.

He got a page into a document before laughter reached his ears. It wasn't ear-splitting or uproarious laughter, but it’s _laughing_. He’d never heard that from William. Felicity joined in before saying something about needing to focus. He smiled and returned to his document, but it’d become more boring. He didn't care about this, even though Rene would have his head in the morning when he had nothing done. He wanted to be in there, or at least at the door, watching Felicity work her magic.

“Hey, Oliver?” William called. Oliver closed his eyes for a moment. It still hurt. It would always hurt, until he earned the right to be called ‘Dad’. Every time he heard his name, he knew that he still hasn’t gotten to that point. Even after taking him to a baseball game, cooking countless crazy meals that only a kid would enjoy, and letting him stay up late. It still wasn’t enough.

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Can you make me and Felicity grilled cheese? _Oh_. I mean Felicity and me.”

Oliver chuckled and started towards the kitchen. “That I can do.”

“Cuz your cooking skills are better than your math skills!” Felicity yelled, but then it sounded like she choked on her words. “I mean, you would be amazing at math if you actually put your mind to it!”

Oh, Felicity. He decided not to send something back at her about his grades. Instead he opened the fridge and pulled out ingredients for something that only two of the people in the house would know the name of. He made these treats a few years before after years of dreaming about them. During study sessions as a kid, Raisa would make Monte Cristos and bring them to his room. While in Ivy Town, he made them for him and Felicity after he dragged her out for a run. The food was an apology that she gratefully accepted.

Now he would get to make them for his son. And for Felicity again. As he cooked, he listened in on the explanations of how to do quadratic equations. It would never make sense to him, but maybe, in the future, he could help William with _something_.

Or just use it as an excuse to call Felicity over.

After ten minutes, Oliver set the Monte Cristos on a plate and walked to the bedroom. They didn’t hear him coming—neither of them had the hearing that he did—so he just watched.

“After you divide by x…” Felicity moved her hand to prompt William to figure it out. Oliver smiled as William responded with the correct answer. Samantha must’ve been good at math. No way his son got that from him. Though Felicity _was_ right. He was only terrible at school because he never tried, but there were certain things that he just couldn’t figure out.

“I’m gonna bomb this!” William slammed down the pencil. Something that Oliver knew he’d done a thousand times. Often with his bow, not a pencil. William already copied him in that, which gave him panic in his heart. His son would need a lot of people to guide him. His father, for one, but also someone other than that. A dad could only do so much.

William needed a mom. A woman to nurture him in a way only a woman could. To help him figure out how girls thought. To help him with the confusing subjects in school. With Samantha gone, he needed someone else to be that woman.

Oliver leaned against the doorway and watched Felicity. She picked up the pencil William tossed down and spun it around. Her words were encouraging, but it was the way she spoke that made him smile. And makes William take the pencil again, a look of resignation on his face. As if he didn't want to accept that he was good at math.

“Oliver says that math doesn’t matter in the real world.”

 _Crap_. Felicity would take that line and eventually make him retract that statement. It was true, just not as true as Oliver made it sound. Sure enough, she shot it down, adding that school changed her life.

True.

Without school, she wouldn’t have moved a thousand miles away to work at Queen Consolidated. Which meant that she wouldn’t have been working the day that he needed help. He wouldn’t have met her. Or saw her that time he came back.

School changed both of their lives. In different ways, but ultimately, it brought them together. Right then, he forced himself to change his thinking on that subject. School was important. Maybe not always, but sometimes, it made the biggest difference in one person’s life. Or, in his case, school inadvertedly saved his life. It made him smile. Watching her now, everything in him wanted to smile. It made him forget about the pain of everything that surrounded him.

Clearly, it made William forget it too.

“I used to love school.”

Oliver closed his eyes. There was the dagger. His son never told him that. He guessed it when William only enjoyed playing video games and reading. Losing Samantha changed his perspective on everything, especially the things he loved doing with her. The other things not so much. He could still do those without constantly thinking about her.

“You will again. I promise.”

He wished he could take a video and save it for one of those days when he couldn’t remember what love was like. Felicity got William to smile. A little smile, but more than he’d given Oliver over the past five months. She got him to have a little hope. That maybe things would be okay. At some point. Oliver had tried, but he couldn’t do that well. Felicity always could. She’d done it for him, and now she could do it for his son.

She was the woman he wanted to the spend his life with. He knew that a few years ago, and the desire for her last name to be the same as his had grown since, but he never wanted to marry her more now. To live with her. To love with her. Sure, William was a part of his life now. In any circumstances, it would be complicated, but this was extreme. A big reason why he and Felicity decided not to be together until they figured it out a little.

But now he had it all figured out.

He needed Felicity here. With him, but mostly, with William. His son needed someone like her. Just like his dad needed someone like her five years ago. And not just someone like her. _Her_. Only her. If he learned anything the past few years, it was that no other woman was Felicity Smoak. No woman came close, except his little sister, who would guide William as well. Just differently.

His sureness grew more when William broke into laughter over Felicity’s description of a Monte Cristo. Even more when he said she was pretty cool. The terror from a while ago was gone. William liked her. Probably loved her. _How do you feel about your tutor living with us?_ He wouldn’t ask it right now. First, Felicity needed to agree to this plan. Then they would tackle the next step.

One slow step at a time. That had been their relationship since the beginning. It grew and grew, one centimeter at a time. Now time to take the final steps. A key. A few dates. Ring shopping. And then, finally, a wedding.

So that he could finally call her his wife. But just as importantly, so that William could experience her love and light for the rest of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! This was written fairly fast, but I wanted to write this before NaNoWrimo starts. Comments and kudos are always appreciated!


	3. Prep Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity have pre-date jitters. (Pre 6x04 fic.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't intending on writing anything for the next month, since I'm doing NaNoWrimo, but after getting 6,000 words done, I decided to write this quickly. So it's not amazing, but I hope you'll like it. Comments, kudos, and such are very appreciated!

They decided on Thursday night. For no reason whatsoever. Just that they were tired of waiting, so Oliver cleared his schedule and made reservations. He wasn’t sure what Felicity did to ensure she could come, but he assumed she told the team not to contact her unless of an emergency. He spent most of his day stressing over the night, even though there wasn’t anything to be nervous about. Quentin told him that several times during the day, but it did nothing to keep him from going to the bathroom seven times before he left at two. His team would cover for him at the office so he could stop at the grocery store and start cooking before William got back from school. He and Raisa deserved to have a nice dinner too.

William opened the door and dropped his book bag next to the entrance. “Hey, Oliver.”

“Hey, buddy.” Oliver eyed the Flash backpack laying on the floor. William had a habit of putting it there and _not_ putting it away. “Where does that go?”

“Not there.”

“Uh-huh. Put that away, please, then you can help me in the kitchen.”

He brought the backpack to his room, then came out and sat down at the counter. “Whatcha makin’? It looks fancy.”

“It is.”

“Why? Did something good happen or something?”

“No. This is for you and Raisa.”

“So…where are you going?”

Oliver bit his lip, but not smiling was impossible. “On a date.”

William’s eyebrows shot up. “With who?”

“Felicity.”

“ _Really_? You’re going on a date with my math tutor?”

He grinned. “If it’s okay with you.”

“She’s awesome. I’m okay with it. Can I come with?”

He wasn’t expecting that question. More like ‘is she going to be my mom if you get married’ or ‘what happens if the date doesn’t go well’. Both questions he planned answers to. Not this one. And William’s puppy eyes were getting to him too well. Oliver gestured to the dinner he was preparing. “Tonight, your date is Raisa. She and I went on a few dates when I was little when my parents went out, and trust me, she’s a fun person to have a fancy dinner with. Just,” he glanced back at William with a smile on his face. “Chew with your mouth closed.”

“Okay.” He laughed. “I guess I’ll be okay here. But sometime, can we all have a nice dinner? Together?”

Emotions clogged in his throat at the mention of ‘together’. For years, he yearned for it, but he never imagined it would actually happen. That he actually deserved it. He still wondered if he did. Oliver nodded. The only thing he could do at the moment. He cleared his throat and squeezed his eyes shut. “Sure. We can do that sometime. Thanksgiving is coming up. Sound like a plan?” As long as he didn’t butcher the date tonight.

“Yup. Should I…dress up for tonight? Maybe Raisa would like that. Girls like that, right? If even if they are…old. _Er_.”

Oliver hid a smile. William was defintiely his son. “This needs to cook on low for a bit, so let’s go get dressed.”

“Yeah, you can’t go on a date with Felicity in that.”

Oliver looked down at himself. If they were going on a date to the lair, yes, but not to the fancy restaurant he reserved a table at. “You are correct. And you can’t wear your school clothes to a dinner, so grab your stuff and come in here.  I’ll help you tie your tie. If…if you’d like.” He winced when William didn’t respond _Idiot._ What if he wasn’t comfortable with that yet?

“I’m pretty terrible at that, so yeah. I’ll be right back.”

Oliver smiled, but took the time that William was out of the room to change into his dress pants and button-down shirt. He wasn’t about to show his son his scars yet, even if they’d gotten closer in the past couple weeks. William would see the scars when Oliver found the courage to do so.

Right now, he needed to decide on a tie. Something that normally came easy to him. Besides the last time he went out on a date with Felicity.

“What are you doing?”

He jumped back from the wall of his closet when William spoke. “Huh?”

“You look confused.” His son stepped up next to him. “You can’t pick a tie?”

“Yep.”

“That’s why you should only have tie like me.”

He added shopping for more clothes to the list of things they needed to do. “You’re right. I have too many.”

“What colors does Felicity like? Pink? Never mind. You don’t have pink ties. Purple?”

“She loves red.”

“You have lots of red ties.” William glanced at him. “Did you buy all these for her?”

“No.” _Wrong_. “Maybe.”

“How about this one?” William pulled a maroon colored tie off the hanger. “It’s got some red dots on it. She'll like it.”

Oliver smiled as he took it from his son. “It’s perfect, William. Thank you.”

His son wore a look of pride. “Can you tell her I picked it out?”

“Of course. She’ll love it.” He glanced at the clock. Ten minutes before he needed to go. “I’ve got a couple seconds before I leave. So…do you need help?”

“Yep. Raisa probably knows what a badly tied tie looks like, so I’d better do it right.” William handed him his tie and straightened up to his full height. He grinned. “Or…you’d better do it right.”

“Don’t worry, bud. I got this.” As he did the tie, he talked William through the steps. When he finished, he pulled it off and let him do it himself. At least that’s what his own dad did twenty years ago. After surveying themselves in the mirror, Oliver sent William to make the table fancy for his dinner with Raisa, while he finished putting the meal together. At seven, he grabbed his suit coat, said goodbye, and ran out of the apartment. He wanted to be on time to this date. Maybe Felicity didn’t put too much worth into how late he was to things, but she deserved to have him arrive on time. For once.

                                             *******

She was running late. A disastrous hour of trying to come up with a name for her company even though it was just a way to pass time, a slip in the shower because she was freaking out that left her with a bloody nose, and a hair dryer that wouldn’t work made her frazzled, frustrated, and very late. As she dried her hair with a back-up hair dryer, she glanced at the clock. _Frack_. “So this is what Oliver feels like.” Thank God she had her outfit picked out. If she didn't, she would be here all night.

When her hair finally curled correctly, she pulled on her dress and dropped down onto the bed. Nerves. She didn’t get nervous when she needed to save the world or when she was close to death. The nerves hit when she went out on a date. With Oliver Queen.

“Okay, Felicity Smoak. You’ve done this before.” Once. And it ended with her unconscious and them even more sure they couldn’t date. It wouldn’t be like that this time. They were older. More grown-up. They trusted each other. All that mattered now. “You’re gonna be fine.”

But now she needed to go to the bathroom. She pressed her fists to her stomach, groaning as she doubled over. “Please stop. You have nothing to be nervous about.” Except being seen in public with the Mayor for the first time in two years. Also the fact that she was going on a date with her ex-fiance. She _did_ have things to be nervous about. “But I’m going to be late!”

As she ran down the hall to the stairs, her phone binged. “Oh, please, don’t be texting me to cancel because this took a long time!” She grabbed her phone and then smiled. **_On my way! Can’t wait to see you!_** Her anxiety dissipated. She was going to be fine. _They_ were going to be fine. Nerves happened, but nothing could come close to their first date. Nothing could go worse than their first date.

One more text popped up as she went out her door. **_It’s going to be fine, Felicity. Remember to breathe._** She laughed and put her phone into her purse. “You know me too well, Oliver.”

She drove too fast through town, fully intending to call Quentin if she got pulled over. Even if he wasn’t a cop anymore. Or the Mayor could pardon her, giving the fact that she was speeding to get to a date that involved him. When she pulled into the parking lot, a valet attendant parked her car for her. She ran all the way to the table and nearly knocked the table over when she slammed into it, out of breath. “Hi! Hi. Sorry I’m late. You have no idea how many problems I’ve had. Including multiple bathroom breaks but that’s in the past. Very much in the past.”

“Felicity.” Oliver let out a laugh. During her ramble, he’d stood up and when she stopped, he slid his arms around her back and planted a kiss on her forehead. “It serves me right after all of the times I kept you waiting. You’re here now. All that matters."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love to elaborate on both of these POVs, but right now, my story requires lots of attention. This does not, but I hope you enjoyed it nevertheless.


	4. Telling William

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With two hours of being a Queen under her belt, Felicity worries about William's reaction to his dad marrying her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the first officially married chapter that I've ever gotten to write!

“I can’t believe we did this.” Felicity sat on the back of their motorcycle at the gas station, swinging her legs as Oliver filled up. “That was pretty spur the moment, even for me. And you. You’re pretty spur the moment too.”

Oliver straightened up and smiled. Not that he ever stopped. Not since John pronounced them husband and wife. The smile just kept getting bigger. “I’m happy we did.”

“Oh, I’m happy too. Thrilled, to be exact. But also terrified. There’s so many things we have to do now. Actually get the marriage certificate. Call my mother. _Oh dear God_ , call my mother. That could be the worst thing we have to do.” She would flip out and then start crying, and then demand to know why she wasn’t invited to the wedding. Even if no one else was. “And William! We have to tell William!”

“I know, I know.” Oliver finished filling up before he took two short steps to put his hands on her cheeks. “Hey. Breathe. We’ll take this one step at a time. We can stop and sign the certificate on our way into town, and then we’ll go to my apartment—our apartment—and tell my son. Then we’ll call Thea and your mom. And,” he tilted his head to the side, “we should probably tell the rest of the team too.”

She groaned and dropped her head forward. It landed softly on Oliver’s rock-hard stomach. This was so complicated. Not the changing her name stuff. The telling people. She didn’t want to do that. How would they react? Of course Diggle reacted by grinning his head off, but what about William? Thea? Her _mother_? It could all end up being a disaster. “You make it sound so simple.”

“Because it _is_.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Fel-ic-ity.” She knew that tone. It was the ‘shoot straight with me and stop babbling’ tone that she always listened to. “What’s going on?” He squatted down to her height on the bike. “You aren’t…having second thoughts, are you?”

“No! Oh gosh, no. Definitely not. I am two hundred percent sure I did the right thing. And that was marrying you. Becoming your wife.” It had a pretty ring to it now. She was Oliver Queen’s wife. The very thought made her smile. “I’m…scared.”

He pulled back a few inches, his brow furrowed. “Scared? About what?”

This was stupid. She took a deep breath and whispered, “About how people are going to react.” When he didn’t say anything right away, she panicked. “And you have to say something, Oliver. Because it is stupid. Very stupid. But it’s real for me. It’s mostly about William. He just lost his mom a few months ago and now I’ll be living there. I guess I don’t have to live there. We can do a long-distant marriage. But I would—” Her words were silenced with a kiss. A long, take-your-breath-away kiss that settled her heart into a steady beat again. Funny how Oliver could do that. Make her heartrate go up and make it go down. She relaxed her body and looped her arms around his neck.

“Hey, you lovebirds!” Some jerkwad broke their sweet, calming declaration of love. “Do that in private!”

Oliver pulled away, licked his lips, and yelled across the parking lot, “We just got married! So we can do what we want!” That shut him up. He huffed, and turned to look at Felicity again. “You are my life. William is my life. Thea too. And just like someone who is lucky enough to have more than one person that they love, we can make it work. My son loves you to death. So does my sister. And I know both of them, and they’re gonna love it. Okay?”

She wouldn’t be totally convinced until she saw their reactions, but she nodded. “Okay.”

“Good. Now let’s go home.” He stood up and stretched his arms over his head, exposing a bit of his stomach. His very gorgeous, ripped stomach.

She smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”

 

They made it home in record time, which wasn’t a great thing. Felicity told Oliver multiple times that he shouldn’t speed, given the fact that Agent Watson Jerkwad could add that to his list of charges. But clearly he wanted to get home. She did too. To get this over with, because she couldn’t handle not knowing the reactions of everyone. They parked the bike in the garage underneath the apartments and ran up the stairs together, Oliver hauling their gear up the stairs. Felicity stopped just outside the door and whispered, “Are you gonna tell William about suiting up?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. If he asks, I’ll tell him, because this was an emergency. But I’ll figure it out. Right now, this is the most dire thing that we have to tell him.” With that, he reached for her hand and tapped her ring finger. “Come on.”

Her heartrate was reaching skyrocketing levels as they walked into the apartment. William stopped his video game and turned around.

“Hey! You’re back!” He hopped up and ran over to give them hugs. “You said you’d be gone just a night.”

“Yeah…” Oliver winced. “That’s a long story that we’ll explain at some point. But right now, Felicity and I have something to tell you.”

“You brought home a dog?”

Oliver’s eyes widened. Felicity pursed her lips together to keep from laughing. This guy was a goner if William started begging for a puppy. “No, bud. We did not. But come sit down.”

“So it’s serious.”

“I’d say so.” Oliver shot her a look when she tried to hang back. So that wasn’t happening. “It’s more important than serious.”

William plopped down on the couch and brought his knees up to his chest. He looked so much like Oliver, and right now, he looked more like him than ever before. A little nervous, and expectant. His fingers tapped against his legs as he waited. “Okay…what’s the problem?”

“Not a problem.” Oliver took Felicity’s hand. “While we were there, we ran into some issues. With a lot of things, but Barry and Iris ended up getting married in a park. And…”

“While we were there, doing maid of honor and best man duties, we got an itch too.” She wanted to raise her left hand in the air, but she didn’t have a ring on. Yet. _Please let this go well. For my sake._ “We, uh, got married.”

William’s eyebrows shot up. “What?” He bounced off the couch so that he stood above them. “Felicity, you married my dad?”

“Uh-huh.”

He looked at Oliver, his eyes still blank. As if he couldn’t believe it. “Really?”

Oliver chuckled and squeezed Felicity’s hand. “Really.”

“ _Yesssss_!” William whooped and jumped up to a height that only a Queen could. Then he gave Felicity a huge hug. “Oh my gosh, that’s so awesome. Auntie Thea was telling me about you, and you’re even more awesome now.” Then he let go of Felicity and hugged Oliver. “Thank you, Dad.”

“Thank you?”

“Now I kinda have a…” he gulped, and started fidgeting. “I kinda have a mom again. Not really, but I do.” His gaze shot to Felicity. “If that makes sense.”

She was going to bawl. Felicity pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and mumbled, “You were right, Oliver,” and stood up so she could wrap her arms around William. “Thank _you_ , buddy. Because I was really worried how you’d respond.”

“Really?” He giggled. “You’re awesome. Why’d you worry?”

“Because I’m not a good truster.”

“That’s what Auntie Thea said about Dad.”

“That’s also true.” She shot Oliver a look and laughed when he shouted ‘hey!’. “But that’s a thing of the past. He used to not trust anybody, but now…” Now she was going to make him cry. “I love you.”

He stood up and enveloped them both in a hug that would’ve made Barry whine about how he never got a good group hug like that. “I love you too. Both of you.”

That night, after a whirlwind of a day that started with fighting Nazis and ended with them fighting about who got which side of the bed since they'd never slept together in this one before, Felicity pulled the covers over her head and let the tears run. She'd done it. Fought away the doubts of marriage and her love for Oliver. Healed from her doubts of being unlovable. It wouldn't be easy, but they could get through anything. The past six years taught her that well. Their little family was strong. And beautiful. And perfect. Three years ago, seven years ago...twenty years ago...she never imagined any of this. Sleeping by her husband with her boy in the next room. With parents who both agreed to walk her down the aisle at her second wedding for everyone else to see. With a sister-in-law who started crying when she found out. With a team who broke out the champagne because they were so excited.

It was truly a miracle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments, kudos, and such are greatly appreciated! :)


	5. Practice Makes Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the Queen's archery battle. [6x11]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

William Clayton Queen was going to beat his dad. In archery. Because…reasons. Mostly because his aunt promised that if he beat her brother, she would buy him ice cream every Friday for the next month. He knew she would either way, since she almost always picked him up from school on the last day of the week, and dragged him to Dairy Queen. Dragging being a slight exaggeration.

Dad was busy a lot. Being the Mayor took a lot out of him. Usually when William came home, his dad was working on something for work, or sleeping. Sometimes he had his doubts about him no longer being the Green Arrow. Sometimes he did disappear in the middle of the night, along with Felicity. But he was always there in the morning.

“Alright, Mr. Queen.” He stood in the mirror and adjusted his shirt. He looked professional. Kind of. His pants were stained cuz one of the guys at school knocked his smoothie over. And his shoes were getting too small. But whatever.

He needed to go to work.

William took his bow and his four arrows and took them out to the living room. Felicity texted that she and Dad wouldn’t be home for another hour, and Raisa was sleeping off a headache. So it was just him and his weapon.

He set up the cans with the cups and put them on the end table. “Okay, Queen. You got this.” He had ice cream and bragging rights on the line. The first arrow went sailing over the can and hit a book. Good thing it wasn’t the vase inches from it. Before he shot again, he put the vase in the kitchen.

The next arrow got a little closer.

The fourth try, he knocked the can over. The whooping got a little out of hand, because Raisa yelled, “William, quiet or I will call your father!”

Yikes. Dad couldn’t come home until he did some more practicing. “Sorry, Raisa!” He gathered his arrows and started again. The second arrow knocked over the can, but it also knocked over the glass. It shattered. Everywhere. “It’s okay!” But she must not have heard him. Or she decided to ignore him. He cleaned the glass up and started again. Plastic cups this time.

After a few rounds, he sat down on the ground, a smile on his face. He was getting that ice cream from Thea. Dad wasn’t so good with games. Watching him playing video games was almost painful to watch. William understood why. He didn’t have a lot of time, and he was too busy saving the world for the past several years. Video games were the last thing on his mind.

Didn’t mean he couldn’t take advantage of that.

He practiced a few more times, then took a seat on the couch with his math book, pretending to be deep in study when the door opened. Felicity came in first, dropped her purse on the table, kicked off her heels, and collapsed down next to him. Dad shot her a look, then smiled at William.

“Hey, bud. How was school?”

“School? It was good.”

Dad’s eyebrows furrowed. “Just good?”

“Great! Actually. It was really good.” He wouldn’t mention that he nearly got punched again during recess. That was becoming almost normal. “How was your day?”

“Good,” they both responded.

It was now or never. William leaned forward, trying to keep a grin off his face. “So.”

“So what?” Oliver sat down on the coffee table as Felicity got up and went to the bathroom.

“We should play a game.”

“ _Not_ another video game.”

“Nope.” He produced the bows from underneath the couch. Dad’s eyes widened, then he grinned. “Archery.”

When it was all over, he called his Aunt Thea and told her that she owed him ice cream.

                                                                        *******

He was repeatedly getting his butt whooped by his son. And it was going to end. Part of this was Thea’s fault. She practically bribed William into beating him. Into _practicing_ to beat him. Maybe kids did that. He certainly didn’t remember spending time during the day to literally practice his skills in order to beat his dad.

He’d had enough.

Oliver grumbled under his breath as he gathered his gear into his duffel bag. William wouldn’t notice if he stole the arrows and one bow for the day. They would be returned tonight once he got his practice in. Felicity was working at the Loft today, busy with her start-up. Today he was thankful. The last thing he needed was her laughing behind him as he continuously missed cans.

“I’ve defeated Malcolm, Slade, Darhk…” he muttered as he walked into the lair. “And I can’t beat my son at a game of archery.” He double checked to make sure there weren’t cameras on the area he was going to use. He assumed there weren’t. If there were, Curtis would’ve found out that his conniving had actually worked for a half an hour or so last year.

The cans were set up, music turned on, and he went to work. It took six shots before he hit a can. He did his best not to let out a triumphant yell. _This is what you’ve come to, Queen_. He didn’t care, though. Taking half an hour of his day to work on his archery skills with a plastic bow wasn’t so bad. If only real life worked this way. He wouldn’t have so many scars all over his body.

He didn’t realize how deep he’d gotten into the zone until the music clicked off. Someone snickered. Multiple people. He dropped the bow and whirled around. So much for upholding his manhood. Felicity and Diggle stood there, doubled over in fits of laughter. His wife held a camera. _Yikes_. “It’s not what you think.” What possessed him to say that?

“Oh…I don’t know…” Felicity kept laughing. She wasn’t stopping, even as she walked towards him. “It looks like trouble to me.”

“We were worried about you, man.” Diggle tried to be serious, but his shaking shoulders gave him away.

“You just kept firing away at those poor little cans. With no thought to them, and I thought,” her hand landed on his bicep, “what could’ve possessed him to come down here and shoot plastic arrows with a plastic bow at pop cans?”

He glared at her. “Very funny.”

“So John and I decided that we’d better come check on you.” She puckered her lip and gave him her best concerned face. For as bad of a liar as she was, she could really fake being concerned. Which concerned _him_. “Are you okay?”

“Your giggling gives away the level of caring you have for me right now.” He picked up the bow and tapped her with the end of it. “Go away. I’m _practicing_.”

“To beat your son.”

“Yes.”

“At archery.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how crazy that sounds? Hopefully the villains don’t get ahold of this. They’ll use it against you.” She went up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “I love you, don’t get hurt, and I’ll see you at home. Also, I have this all on tape and it’s already saved to my folder than you’ll never be able to get into so don’t even try.”

She and John ran out of there quickly. Still laughing. Oliver sighed, then chuckled as he shook his head. It was good to laugh, even if it was over something as silly as fake archery.

Speaking of. He fit an arrow into the string and let it fly.

It missed.


End file.
